Civil Service Fast Stream: Work Shadowing

For 2018-19, the Civil Service Fast Stream have rewarded EP students through work shadowing placements and an exclusive Whitehall experience day. Recently, the EP team caught-up with current Fast Streamer, Abigail Lowy, who has been working in the Department for International Trade, and Rebecca Smith (School of Politics and International Relations).

For her EP reward, Rebecca gained the opportunity to shadow the team responsible for negotiating a future trade agreement with Australia and New Zealand within the Department for International Trade. Rebecca gained the opportunity to meet with different members of the team and find out more information on routes into the Civil Service, as well as the various roles available for working abroad.

Despite attending various meetings and only have 2-days in Whitehall, Rebecca was tasked with gathering intelligence on New Zealand and Australia’s communications strategy for their negotiations with the EU. As a result, Rebecca produced a six-page document, which is now being incorporated into a wider brief to be used by senior leaders in establishing the UK’s negotiations strategy.

Reflecting upon her experience, Rebecca commented that the reward ‘allowed me to get a more hands-on experience as to what is expected of Fast Streamers in the Department for International Trade on a daily basis’ and her advice to future students considering EP rewards:

“I would say 100% go for it, there’s literally nothing to lose. Its such an easy process that can result in big rewards, and it also gets you to become more involved in wider student life than just lectures, seminars and venue. You can also gain points for activities done outside of university which I think is a huge bonus.”

Abigail, who was incredibly impressed with Rebecca, also commented:

“Becky was able to quickly fit into the team in the short period she was there, and I was really impressed with how quickly she grasped a complex area of government. I was also impressed that the task given to Becky did not faze her and she was able to work on this in between the various meetings she attended. Colleagues who met with Becky were also impressed with her enthusiasm and interest in our work.”

The EP team would like to thank the Civil Service Fast Stream for supporting EP students this summer!